


Leaving

by kakairupowns (miharu)



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-10
Updated: 2009-07-10
Packaged: 2017-10-18 08:56:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/187154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miharu/pseuds/kakairupowns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ace only ever stayed until dawn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leaving

Zoro stood at the bow, arms hanging over the railing. His green gaze was fixed on the figure bobbing on the water, his small one-man boat still tied to the Merry. Ace lifted his head up, hat tilting back. Neither moved for a moment, simply taking in each other.

Zoro knew this was the way it had to be. Ace climbed nimbly up the side of the ship, stopping at eye level. Zoro closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of the other man; the slight scent of smoke and musk, his logia always just beneath his skin. Opening his eyes, he accepted one last kiss, before Ace pulled away quietly, a wistful smile on his face. Zoro’s mouth pulled up at the corners, mirroring him with a small smirk.

With one last jaunty wave, Ace dropped down to his boat, untying it and jetting away in one smooth move, his ankles and feet ablaze. Zoro stared after him, several emotions flickering across his features in quick succession, and finally settling on acceptance. Ace never stayed past dawn. The swordsman’s eyes trailed to the soft sunrise, the sky slowly lighting up as the world woke.

Ace was a free spirit; always restless, never meant to be tied down in one place. It wouldn’t be right to ask him to change, least of all for a single person.

Zoro would remain on this ship, with his nakama. He was seamlessly tied to them, searching for the one piece and finally fulfilling his dream. But he was also linked to Ace, and forever felt like he was being pulled in two directions. He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he watched Ace fade away toward the horizon.

He was still standing there, staring to the east long after Ace was nothing but a speck, when the rest of his crew woke up. He could hear Sanji moving around in the galley, the smells of a warm breakfast reaching him over the breeze. Everyone else roused slowly, and the small ship was quickly overcome with the bustling sounds of his nakama.

Maybe, someday, he might ask Ace to stay.

Probably not.


End file.
